I have noticed that people I have been talking to are getting really confused about the difference between digital and analogue antennas, and frankly I don’t blame them. Even I was initially confused about all this until I did the proper research and found out for myself. If you’re having the same trouble that I did, this article details the main differences and can help you understanding the changes to television signals in Australia.
There are hundreds of definitions and a great deal of technical information about digital TV antennas and analogue TV antennas, but we do not want to bog you down with more information that will probably confuse you even more. In simple terms, both the digital TV antenna and the analogue TV antenna receive broadcasting singles for TV programs. Obviously, the analogue antenna can only capture analogue TV signals whereas a digital antenna receives digital signals, which are of higher quality. There are also a few other TV antennas that can capture both digital and analogue signals.
According to the claims of marketers, these antennas work in a similar way, although they obviously deal with different types of data. For instance, an analogue signal is actually very similar to an AM and FM radio signal. However, they can be hampered by interference, snow, ghosting and many other environmental factors that make the picture and sound quality lower than desired. On the other hand, digital TV signals are transmitted as data bits of information, similar to how computer data or music is written onto a hard disk. Unlike the analogue TV signal, they do not face much fading or interference. The digital signal can carry much more information than existing analogue signals. If a signal is poor, an analogue TV signal can still run with some picture distortion, whereas the digital TV shows a picture or doesn’t, depending on the strength of the signal. That said, in some cases where there is slight distortion in the digital signal, there will be pictures on the TV. Though the analogue TV signal was the method that was used when the television was first invented, the digital TV signal is now gradually replacing it with its improved efficiency and coverage.
While many people say that digital TV antennas are really essential for the best TV viewing, many people are content with analogue TV. Some people believe that there is little difference between the digital TV antenna and analogue TV antenna and both of them can work really well. However, when I replaced my old analogue TV antenna with a digital TV antenna I found that the TV signal and picture quality was significantly improved, so I can’t really understand how people could compare it to the old signal. Most importantly, I now have access to more channels with digital TV. Hence, I would say that it is definitely worth installing a digital TV antenna even though it’s a little bit pricey.
